Pure melodrama shot partly on the prestigious Harvard campus, “Love Story” also marked the history of the university. So much so that new students must submit to a ritual: attend a somewhat special screening of the film!
A Romeo with sexy curls (Ryan O’Neal), a Juliet with long brown hair (Ali MacGraw) suffering from an incurable disease, the melancholy piano of Francis Lai… Love Story, a pure melody signed by Arthur Hiller, produced on a small budget by Paramount.
But a huge success at the worldwide Box Office, with more than 106 million dollars in revenue. In fact, it’s even the very first film to break the symbolic bar of $100 million at the Box Office. In France, the tragic story of the cursed lovers will attract more than 5.5 million spectators.
Behind the telling of this thwarted love story is Erich Segal. The interested party is not exactly in unknown territory to plant the framework of his story. He was educated at Harvard College and Harvard University, where he earned a doctorate in comparative literature. He became a professor of classics at the same university, then taught at Yale University and Princeton University.
Film screenwriter Love Story therefore, he novelized his screenplay at the request of Paramount. Initially designed as a simple promotional tool, released – still at the studio’s request – on Valentine’s Day, this novel was a bestseller even before the film’s release.
Campus mess and cool hazing
Filming the film on campus apparently caused some problems. In fact, it was the production of this film that led the university to ban nearly all commercial filming, due to student disruption and damage, including fake snow killing several trees. After only a week of filming on location, the production was forced to pack up.
Still, the university still knows what it owes to the notoriety of the film, even if it did not wait for its release to be known worldwide. Thus, each year, all students arriving in the first year are “forced” to attend a screening of the film organized on site by the Crimson Key Society; the association made up of university students and responsible for welcoming both new students and visitors.
A happily heckled projection, like the sessions of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, as reported elsewhere an article from the New York Times in August 2010. Still, the members of the Crimson Key take their role seriously in this ritual that has become inescapable, to the point of pushing the immersion as far as possible by dressing in 70s fashion, or even like certain characters from the film; each having a role. And in the overwhelming majority of cases, newcomers have absolutely no idea what to expect. It should still be a fun experience!